I want you to turn back in your
Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. You can also
follow me in your bulletin under the pastor's outline. We are
in a series on the subject of forgiveness. And I want to let
you know now that you're going to be hearing a number of things
around forgiveness that you have not heard before. And some of
the things that I'm going to talk about today will actually
they will actually contradict what you have assumed to be a
biblical basis of forgiveness. So I want to apologize up front
if you are offended by what I have to say, but I want you to study
your Bibles and take notes because forgiveness, as I stated last
week when we opened our first message, is the chief commodity
by which we enter into all of the blessings of the commonwealth
and riches that are in Jesus Christ. It is the key into those
blessings on a relational level. Forgiveness is about relationship. And if you don't understand that,
you will miss the point altogether. So I'm gonna be saying a lot
of things. If you don't get it, get the CD and listen to it.
How many times? At least, at least 10 times.
This is gonna be a very important series. Because our relationship
with God as well as our relationship with one another depends on understanding
Biblical forgiveness in the context of the gospel The title of our
message then today is you are a God Ready to forgive and it
comes out of Psalm 86 verse 5 Where the psalmist David is acknowledging
that? that the only place forgiveness
can be found is in God. And there he describes the disposition
of God towards sinners. That God is a God ready to forgive. Now when you are ready to forgive,
you are in a position to forgive. But mark this, ladies and gentlemen,
God does not just forgive automatically, nor does He forgive universally,
and nor does He forgive unconditionally. Write it down. I told you I'm
going to crash all of your paradigms. God doesn't just forgive, nor
does God forgive unconditionally. We love to use that adjective
in Christianity And I really think that we don't understand
what we are saying when we use the word unconditional. Nor does
God forgive universally or unendingly. Now what I had just stated would
make some sense to you if you paid attention to the parable.
Because the parable is explaining the nature of forgiveness relative
to relationship. So I do want you to get this.
God's forgiveness is available, but it's not automatic. God's
forgiveness is powerful, but it is not unilateral. It is always bilateral. It is not unconditional. It is always conditioned upon
the relationship between the two parties. Are you guys hearing
what I just stated? This is very important for you
to know. It is for this reason our master
gives this massive parable about the nature of a relationship
between a king and his slave. Now you guys know there are three
major covenant models. The first is what? Father, son. The second is what? King-servant. The third is what? Husband-wife. We are under the king-servant
model. And our Lord is using this model intentionally in order
for us to have the same reaction to the parable that Peter did
to our Lord's explanation about the process of forgiveness. When Peter was thrown back and
said, Lord, what? How many times shall my brother
sin against me? Well, quite frankly, the whole
of Matthew's 18 is about the subject of forgiveness. Verses
one all the way through verse 26. The book of the chapter,
Matthew's chapter 18 is about relationships and the value that
God holds towards those who are in the kingdom. That's verse
1 of Matthew chapter 18. Notice what it says in verse
1 of Matthew 18. I want you to follow with me
now. At that same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying,
who is the what in the kingdom of God? And Jesus called a little
child unto him and set him in the mist and said, truly I say
unto you, except you be converted and become as little children,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Is that a
serious warning? Look at verse 4. Whosoever therefore shall
humble himself as this little child the same is the greatest
in the kingdom of God. Do you see that? Christ is qualifying
the nature of those who are admitted into the kingdom as those who
submit like a child to God But will you mark verse 10 look at
verse 10? Verse 10 tells us take heed that
you do not despise one of these little ones. Do you see it? For
I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven. And he warns in the
previous verses that if you and I are to be sure that we don't
find ourselves in trouble with God, pluck your eye out, cut
your hand off, cut your foot off to see to it that you don't
offend one of these little ones. Does God value relationships?
The second category of teaching in Matthew 18 The second category
of teachings in Matthew 18 is not merely about the value of
God towards relationship, but the accountability of the people
of God towards one another. Look at verse 15. Look at verse
15. Here's what our master says.
Moreover, if your brother do what? Trespass against you, you
are to go to him and tell his what? Between you and him alone. If he shall hear you, you have
won him. You have gained him. How important
is relationship in the kingdom of God to God that you and I
make sure that we deal with one another on a level of accountability? That's how important it is. In
fact, let me say this as I lay a foundation. No relationship
is worth a dime where the parties in that relationship are not
willing to be accountable to one another. No relationship
in the world is worth a dime where either or both of the parties
are not willing to be accountable to each other. The parable is
all about accountability. And it's stressing the fact that
we are to value relationships in the kingdom of God vertically
first and then horizontally. The man or the woman who calls
himself your friend or your brother or your husband or your wife,
who is not willing to be accountable to you relative to that relationship,
does not value you nor the relationship. If you think you can have a relationship
with somebody and you can do whatever you want to in that
relationship, and you don't have to give account to them relative
to the character and nature of that relationship, you don't
care about that relationship, nor do you care about that person.
Let me say something. It is therefore important for
you and I to understand the mechanism of forgiveness because in all
relationships, with the exception of God himself, we all offend. In all relationships, with the
exception of God himself, we all offend. And where you think
you can be stingy about forgiveness, I warn you, You may fall into
the category of the man in this parable. So the title of our
message again is, we have a God who is ready to forgive. Ready to forgive. Point number
one then in our outline as we work through these five points.
In fact, this is the way I would structure this parable that our
master is teaching us in Matthew chapter 18. I would cut, I would
divide it into four parts. Here's the first part. I would
divide it into an outrageous act, an outrageous act, and then an
outrageous response. And then the third category would
be an outrageous reaction to the response. And then finally,
watch this now, a just outcome, a just outcome. This parable
is outrageous. What do I mean by that? As our
master opens up the parable, he does this all the time. He
said, the kingdom of God is like unto. That's what he says over
in verse 22 of the text. As he responds, Jesus said unto
them, I say unto you, I'm sorry, verse 23. Therefore it's the
kingdom of heaven like unto a certain king who would take account of
his servants. Do you see that? Verse 23 quickly
tells us this is about accountability, is it not? Now watch this. And
when he had begun to reckon, you know what that means? Take
account. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto
him who owed him ten thousand talents. Now, saints of God,
this is where we have to understand grammar, understand history,
be able to contextualize what's taking place because you and
I are not blown away by the term 10,000 because we're so inflated
in our economy today that $10,000 can't even buy you a brand new
car. But in the first century, $10,000 would have been equivalent
to a billion dollars. Now, here's the outrage. Here's
the outrage. You got someone working for you,
and he's using your resources, and he has exhausted the resources
of your business to the point where he owes a billion dollars. That's outrageous. Is that outrageous? See, the disciples would have
heard that opening line, verses two and three there, and would
have said, that is outrageous. You know what that means? It
means that the person, that servant that's working for the king,
had no respect for the king, nor for the kingdom, nor for
those who were in the kingdom, to exhaust the resources of the
kingdom to the tune of a billion dollars. Are you ready? Outrageous. Outrageous. Outrageous. And watch this. Had the king
been kind of like we Christians are, not really caring about
the relationship, he may not have even taken account. until
his kingdom was bankrupt. But because he took into account
his servants, he was able to arrest this man at this point,
at least. This man had committed a great
crime against the kingdom, did he not? A great crime against
the kingdom. And then we are told in verse
25, these words. But I'm sorry, verse 24. And
when he had begun to reckon, he was brought unto him which
owed him ten thousand talents. Yes, verse 25. But for as much
as he had not to pay. His Lord commanded him to be
what? He, his wife, his children and all that he had in order
that payment be made. Now, that's right, isn't it?
Is that right? Should he do that? Absolutely. That's just right.
That's just natural. Remember what we learned last
week? The natural man understands justice. We understand justice. It's right to us that if somebody
ripped you off, they should pay. And this is what the parable
is eliciting from us, that the crime that was committed should
be measured in his punishment equal to that crime. And this
man is going to be sold. His children are going to be
sold. They're going to all be cast into debtor's prison. This
was a scandalous act on the part of this man, was it not? Our
first point then is the kingdom of God is built and sustained
upon the character of what? That's right. The kingdom of
God is built and sustained upon the character of forgiveness.
This is why we said it last week. The nature of the gospel is that
the redemption that's in Jesus Christ results in the forgiveness
of sins. That is the proposition of the
gospel that comes to us, is it not? That Christ is able to forgive
us of our sins. But when you and I are embracing
that proposition, it draws you into a relationship of accountability. because the price that was paid
for the forgiveness of sins is enormous. When God comes to the
sinner and says, believe on me and you shall be saved and I
will forgive you of your sins, that sinner must understand himself
as being in the same situation as this fellow is who's in debt.
That sinner must understand that he is in a horrible predicament.
So let's deal with the three sub points. First one is relationships
are always about what? Do you guys agree with that now?
There's no way to define relationship apart from accountability. The
word means to relate, to be connected at a point of commonality or
purpose. And where we are connected at
a point of commonality or purpose, the nature of that relationship
defines the relationship, does it not? If you and I are co-workers,
we are accountable to each other in the context of that work.
If you and I are athletes on the same team, we are accountable
to one another in terms of our role on that team, are we not?
If I'm a point guard and you're a two guard, I'm accountable
to you as a point guard. If you and I are working in any
other kind of business, so it is, and so it is in the church
as well. When you are married, and you
are a husband and wife, The husband does not get to act willy-nilly
without being accountable to his wife. Nor his wife to him,
nor the children to them, nor them to the children. And when
you are a child of the living God, you are accountable to God. And you are accountable to one
another. you are accountable to one another. And so the kingdom
of God is underscoring through the doctrine of forgiveness of
sins relationships, which are always about accountability.
And this is what Romans 14, 12 will tell us as a sort of a pointer
text to this. Romans chapter 14, verse 12,
we'll get there when we get back to the book of Romans, the apostle
Paul is actually talking about the relationship of believers
towards one another. as we grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the Lord, and how that some of us will have different
levels of understanding, different levels of maturity, different
levels of conviction, and as it were, struggles and challenges
with things. And in the context of the diversity
of the body of Christ, we have to learn how to be accountable
towards one another. As we learned it this morning
in Sunday school, I cannot throw a stumbling block in front of
you and say that I love you. I cannot cause you to stumble
and say I love you. I can't do something in your
presence that's going to cause you to miss God, miss His glory,
miss the comfort of the Holy Ghost, miss your walk with Christ
and say I love you. I can't do that. So the text
tells us, so then every one of us shall give account of himself
to who? Now, relative to you and I knowing
this, that if we're children of God and I know you got to
give an account to God, you know what I'm supposed to do if I
love you? I'm supposed to help you make sure when you stand
before God that the account is right. That's my job. I'm not supposed to see to it
that by the time you get in front of God, you owe him a billion
dollars. Metaphorically speaking, metaphorically
speaking. See, if I don't care about you,
I don't care about God's kingdom. It's going to carry its way through,
isn't it? This is a non-negotiable, very clear outcome of what we
call relationship, vertically and horizontally. Then let's
look at our second point, because I want us to grasp this. Our
second point tells us then, not only are we to understand that
relationships are always about accountability, but without it,
are you with me? Without it, what occurs? Abuse,
fraud, and damage. Without accountability, what
will always occur in relationships is abuse, fraud, and damage. Is that what happened in the
parable? Did the man in this parable abuse his privilege as
the king's servant? Did he squander the king's resources?
Did he set other servants in the kingdom up to fall like him?
See now watch this saints, because by nature we are always nothing
but what? Sinners. That means sinful people
are inclined to do sin when other people are sinning. I can tempt
you to sin by me sinning. And we're going to see this in
a moment by the response of the other servants to this man. But
the king is calling this servant to account and this servant now
has to answer to the king for what he has done. Now this is
quite interesting because we can actually describe this servant
being brought to the king as the time in which you and I stand
before God on the last day, right? But we can also describe this
servant as being brought before the king as a time before our
conversion Because God owns everything. He's the king over all. Everyone
is his servants. And when you and I are brought
under a saving knowledge of the gospel, that's a day of accountability,
isn't it? When the Holy Ghost works through
the preaching of the gospel, he shows you and I our what?
Sin! And when he shows us our sin
and we see it the way God sees it, we see how great a debtor
we are. Is that true? So this is the
parables twofold interpretation. We are brought into a state of
accountability and in that state of accountability, we discover
that we messed up. Now, the reason why I'm treating
it this way is because when I think about this servant, what was
he doing in his head as he was working for the king, exhausting
all the king's resources, defrauding his fellow workers or those about
the kingdom, just ravaging the king's wealth. to the tune of
a billion dollars. This guy must have been a sociopath,
right? What was he doing in his mind to justify daily getting
up, increasing the debt of his scandalous ways towards God,
towards the king? Are y'all working with me? If
we draw the implications out on a more theological and religious
level, what we would describe this man as is a hypocritical
Christian. Are you hearing me? Christian
who really does not understand the nature of relationship vertically
or horizontally He's in the kingdom, but he knows nothing about watches
now the grace of God He's there on a legal level on a formal
level on a religious level, but he is an alien to grace he's
an alien to forgiveness and He's an alien to the mercies of God. And so he's in the kingdom, ripping
everybody off, doing damage to the kingdom because he's still
unconverted. Are y'all following me? This
is very important then to understand that without accountability,
abuses take place, fraud takes place, and damage will also take
place. This is why we are told in Romans
chapter 12, verse 7, let's look at that Romans 12, 7 through
10. I love the way Paul puts this. This is probably chapter 13.
I'm looking at 12 now. It has to be Romans 13 verse
7. Go to Romans 13 verse 7. Yes,
this is better. Are we there? Listen to what
it says. Render therefore to all their what? You know what
we call that? Accountability. Valuing the relationship,
don't we? Render to all their due. Tribute
to whom tribute is due. Pay your taxes. Custom to custom
to whom customers do pay your toll fare. Don't just run through
and expect you have to pay today They're gonna get you anyway,
right satellite gonna flash down on your license plate. I Told
you I was in Ohio three years ago two years ago Family reunion
and I tried to throw the money into the change thing back in
the day You you have to throw the money in as you're passing
through and I even playing basketball in a long time. So I missed and
I kept rolling and I thought I could get away with it and
Three months later, I get a ticket in the mail. You know what that's
called? Accountability. The ticket was for 75 cents. I said to myself, it's going
to cost more for me to send the money in than the ticket. But
the principle is still valid. I was accountable for entering
into the sphere of that kingdom. Pay custom to whom custom is
due. Tribute to whom tribute is due.
Fear to whom fear is due. Honor to whom honor is due. It's
the message in itself when we get there. See, saints, the gospel
does not allow you and me to be raggedy in our relationships. Look at the next verse. Here
it is. Oh, no man anything. Is that where we are? Is that
where this servant is? And when Paul says, oh, he's
speaking redemptively and he's speaking spiritually, this is
why the next line is an explanation of it. But to do what? Notice
what he said? When we don't love, we are debtors. Where there is not a foundation
of love, we are debtors because we're going to defraud people
because love does not defraud its neighbor. Love does not vaunt
itself. Love is not self-centered. Love
does not take advantage of people. Am I making some sense? Where
there is a missing principle of love, you and I will always
be stuck on self, and that means we're taking from everybody else.
We're taking from everybody else. But Paul says the solution to
not being in debt to God or man is loving. Isn't that what he's
saying? To walk in love is to overcome
debt. Now let me share with you a framework
for forgiveness. Forgiveness is an act of faith. Forgiveness is an act of faith. When you forgive somebody, you
are forgiving them on the basis of a set of assumptions that
you are hoping exists in the context of that relationship.
We're getting ready to deal with that. But when you and I are
exercising faith, we are walking by love. Because faith only works
by what? And therefore, when we walk by
love, exercising faith, we are gonna do those things that correspond
to the nature of faith in that context. If God tells me to forgive
my brother, I gotta do that by what? Faith. Making the assumption
that when I do it, every aspect of that forgiveness process,
which we'll deal with today, is able to work itself out. See,
this is where Peter got stuck. When he heard the master say,
go to him, tell him, work it through. Peter is scratching
his head and said, but what if this dude is selfish? What if
this dude is like, you know, the Catholic church where all
you got to do is go say confession, do your prayer notters and prayers,
leave out and go right back and do it again. And then come back
the next week and do it again. And then come back the next week
and do it again. That's not biblical forgiveness. Are you guys hearing
what I just stated? That is not biblical forgiveness.
Biblical forgiveness is not the other person having the right
to rip you off as soon as they say will you forgive me? Right
and this is what causes people to struggle with the whole doctrine
of forgiveness because they're worried about being Vulnerable
to the person they want to forgive. I know that we'll get there.
I got all your questions written down in my notes Because I've
had several people coming to me pastor, but what if that's
a part of my message what if it's not in your notes It's in
mine. So I'm gonna deal with the what-ifs in a moment Well,
what Peter saw was that if he didn't have the Lord to explain
the doctrine of forgiveness, he would have been stuck with
this sense of vulnerability to a process that would have certainly
put him in a position to be ripped off. You know how folks will
come and they're flippantly say, I'm sorry. But to say I'm sorry is not the
same as to say, forgive me. Are you guys hearing me? So we're
getting ready to work a little bit more on this. What Paul teaches
us in Romans chapter 13 is that when there is an ethic of love
rooted in our new nature, because we're true believers in Christ,
we walk by faith. And when we walk by faith, we
labor to employ every biblical principle necessary for my walk
with God and my walk with one another. Am I making some sense?
All right, let's go on then to our second point. Work this through.
So under our first point, the kingdom is built and sustained
upon the character of forgiveness. Relationships are always about
accountability. Without it, abuse and fraud and
damage will occur. The third sub-point, the unaccountable
servant damages the kingdom's witness. Is that what you were
saying? Just want to say that. The unaccountable servant damages
the kingdom's what? You know, there's very few things
that you and I do that someone does not know you're doing it.
And then when we act outwardly in a way that is publicly observed,
people are going to see how we behave. If the saints are acting
scandalously, unaccountable to one another and God, does that
not do damage to the kingdom, the honor and glory and respect
of the kingdom of God? Does it not do damage to the
family? It does damage all across. And so this is why we read in
the book of Daniel chapter 6 verses 1 through 3. I like this. Daniel
chapter 6 verse 1 says, And it pleased Darius to set over the
whole realm of the kingdom 120 princes which should be over
the kingdom. Verse 2. And over these three presidents
of whom Daniel was the what? This is where we have the second-in-command
paradigm all through the analogies. You'll notice that the pagan
kings that got raised up, like Pharaoh, like Nebuchadnezzar,
like now Nebuchadnezzar, the Medo-Persian king Xerxes, he
always allowed one of his own Jewish servants to be in second
command. Joseph, Daniel now, Nehemiah
the cupbearer, And these are types of Jesus Christ who co-reigns
with God, the Father, over the whole world. So Daniel is a type
of Christ, watch this now, and he is actually over all the other
princes, now watch this, that they might give account unto
them, and that the kingdom should have no what? Look at that verse
again. Over these three presidents,
of whom Daniel was the first, that the princes might give account
unto the three, and the kingdom should have no what? So Daniel
has to be the man who enforces what? Accountability. He has
to be the man that goes throughout the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar
and makes sure that he is not being ripped off, right? That's
who Jesus is in the kingdom of God. Our great mediator works
with us and in us to see to it that we are honest in the kingdom.
Am I making some sense? That's why he sends the third
person to deal with us. As I said last week, what you
guys are learning in Sunday school is called the process of the
forgiveness of sins. That we might become true men
and women of God. And so we have the issue of if
we're acting wrong, ladies and gentlemen, we are damaging the
kingdom of God. Point number two in our outline.
The slothful servant is about to lose everything. Do you see it? The slumple servant
is about to lose everything. Listen to what the text says
in verse 25. But for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord
commanded him to be what? And his wife and children and
all that he had in payment be made. Again, the scriptures are
very clear. that there is a warning about
making sure that your relationship with God is authentic. Because
if it's not authentic, what you appear to have by way of relationship
will be what? Taken away. This is what we call
the takeaway principle again. That's Luke 8, 16. To him that
hath, more shall be given. And to him that hath not, even
that which he appears to have shall be taken away. Here this
man is in the master's kingdom with his wife and his children,
and I'm getting ready to show you how accountability affects
everybody in the family. He's the husband of a wife and
children, and his scandalous conduct endangers the whole family.
Saints, long ago, long ago, we had what was called debtor's
prison. Now, if we had debtor's prison today, We've solved a whole lot of problems. Only problem is there'd be so
many people in prison that those of us who are working would have
to pay the taxes for those that are in prison and we'd be broke.
But debtor's prison was designed to show you and me that we can't
charge up debt irresponsibly and unaccountably and walk around
as if that's a dignified morally right thing to do. You can't
rip somebody else off and think you're going to get away with
it. Am I making some sense? So the parable is designed to
warn of the consequences of being unaccountable to God and unaccountable
to the kingdom and how its impact can cause everybody in the family
to suffer. Even now, as I am talking, I already know that
some of you know this on a very practical level. Is this true?
You signed on the dotted line. You said yes. to him and you
didn't know that he was an irresponsible man. You signed on the dotted
line and you said yes to her. And the moment you did, her debt
became yours and his debt became hers. And now you are under the
burden of the irresponsibility of that other party. That's why
before you get married, young people, you got a whole, a whole
lot of prerequisites to check off. Is he broke? Is he in debt? Does he have $10,000
of credit card debt? Does he have a pattern of irresponsibility
when it comes to dealing with money? Can't marry him. Vice
versa. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? I have stopped many marriages when I started talking about
the money issue. And they came to discover that individual has
so much debt that the moment that they say yes, that other
person now is obligated to pay that debt. Now, such a horrible
burden as that only works at the point of redemption where
atonement can pay for that kind of debt. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? But it only happens in one place.
It don't happen in the marriage. In the gospel, yes. In marriage,
no. On a practical level, no. Saints,
I'm talking about accountability and I want to drive it home.
I want you to just make sure that you and I understand that
under our second point, the slumpful servant is about to lose everything.
Point A, his sin led to a debt that he cannot what? That's right. You know what Romans 6, 23 tells
us again? The wages of sin is what? That's
exactly right. And remember our master in Matthew
6, verse 12, Reinforcing what we call the mandate of forgiveness
He says in the in that that that model of what we call the Lord's
Prayer Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy
kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we are
forgiving our debtors Right and the other version of it in the
gospel of Luke. It's forgive us our trespasses As we forgive
those that trespass against us It's a text that mandates forgiveness
relative to debt, right? That's the model. That's the
point. You and I are debtors. We sin all the time. And the
only solution to our sin debt is forgiveness. Is that true? That's what the parable is pressing
home. The parable is pressing that truth home. This man owes
a debt that he cannot pay. Second sub-point, he's compelled
by consequences to do what? Look at what it says in verse
26a the servant therefore fell down and worshiped him Saying
lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all do you see
it? It's the right attitude It's
the right response It's the right attitude it's the right response
let me work with that for a moment what he did right there was to
demonstrate his awareness of the level of his offense and
and he understood on a human level that you just don't rip
people off to the level in which he did and then just say, I'm
sorry. Stay with me for a moment because
I want to make sure this comes home. Because religious folk
will continue to defraud people by simply saying, forgive me.
But the word of God taught these first century Jews to whom Jesus
is teaching that there is such a doctrine called restitution. that when you steal and you defraud
and you abuse people's properties, people's rights, you pay it back. Stay with me now. Stay with me
now. Stay with me. Even if they forgive you, your
job is to restore that which you took from them. If you understand
the nature of forgiveness as being a bilateral contract. Are you with me? And so, remember
our brother Zacchaeus in Luke 19? Happy as all get up that
Jesus came to his house. And when Jesus entered into his
house, what Zacchaeus did immediately was start talking about how,
Lord, now you know, Lord, you know I work for the IRS. You
know that, you know everything. And you know, obviously I'm living
large, but I want you to know I'm paying everybody back, everything
I owe them. Whoever I ripped off, I'm paying
back. Stay with me now. I want to show you something
here. You know what our master said when he said that? He said,
this day is salvation come to your house. Do you understand
why he said that? Not because Zacchaeus could rightly
pay back his debt of sin, but because his attitude towards
ripping people off was authentically expressed by giving back what
he took from them fourfold. More than that, he was a child
of the Torah and he knew what Exodus chapter 23 taught. Exodus
23 verse 1, verse 2, verse 5, verse 7 says, if a thief get
caught stealing, he shall pay back fourfold. If a thief get
caught stealing, he shall pay back fourfold. You and I are
thieves. We steal all the time. If I owe
you respect and I don't give it to you, I stole it from you.
If I owe you honor and I don't give it to you, I stole it from
you. If I owe you attention on any level with regards to the
nature and character of our relationship and don't give it to you, I have
stolen from you. Watch this now. And if you actually
honor our relationship, you have a right to check me on that.
Is that right? You can call me to attention
if in fact I have authentically done it. We'll get to that in
a moment. And I am obligated to acknowledge that I ripped
you off. And if I have the wherewithal to pay it back, I should pay
it back to affirm the authenticity of the relationship, the value
of the relationship. I do not value the relationship. If I think I can rip you off
and don't make an attempt to pay it back. So this man that's
before us is doing what the legal Jew would do, acknowledging that
he has committed a horrible crime for which he has gotten caught.
And the only thing he could do now is fall before the king and
acknowledge the king that he'll pay it back. And when the king
hears that, notice what the king does. This is such a powerful,
powerful parable. Verse 27 says, then the Lord
of that servant was what? Moved with compassion and loosed
him and forgave him his debt. Do you see? Loosed him and forgave
him his debt. Stay there, because this is where
we develop the definition of what it means to forgive last
week. Remember? To forgive was to lift. To forgive was to carry. To forgive was to carry it away,
right? When you forgive someone, you lift that burden of that
responsibility of them owing you off their shoulders, right?
When you forgive someone, you let them go from up under the
weighted conscious obligation to render payment for you. When
this man said that he would pay it all back, the king committed
what I call an outrageous response. Now remember, our Lord Jesus
is actually teaching Peter something about the nature of the gospel.
He's telling Peter first and foremost, that when people operate
irresponsibly in the kingdom, they'll get caught because accountability
mandates it. But he's also telling people
that God has a way in dealing with people who do the wrong
thing by a mechanism by which they can actually solve their
debt problem if they follow through with the process. So here what
God has done is demonstrated that the king now is responding
in an outrageous way of not only saying, OK, good, you can go
out and try to pay me back. But now, ladies and gentlemen,
Would that boy have been able to pay back that billion dollars?
He'd have been working all his life. His wife would have been
working all her life. The kids would have been working
all their life. Now, let me get back to the fundamental principle
of forgiveness. Forgiveness is about relationship. See, because
God values relationship, he's not going to let his people be
in a position where, watch this, the consequences of our actions
continue to deteriorate the relationship. because he has the resources
to solve those problems. If he had let the man do what
the man said, pay the debt off, the man probably would have lost
his wife and all of his kids would have left him because they
all would have been paying for a debt of a crime he committed.
But because God, who is represented by the king, values relationship,
what he did was tell the man, don't worry about it this time. Y'all should be shouting right
there. You should be shouting right there. Because you see
what happened right there? Was God clean, let it go. He clean, let it go. He clean,
let it go. He just let it go. He let it
go. See, for me, this destroys this
idea that God is a God of a second chance. All right, stay with
me. I tell you, you're gonna crash your paradigms. Right,
because it sounds good to be a God of a second chance. But
if I screwed up the first time, and he gives me a second chance.
I'm gonna screw up the second time too. I need more than a
second chance. I need grace. I need redemption. I need the forgiveness of sins.
I need the whole slate removed. I need to be free from the burden
of the mess I engaged in before I was called to account. Are
you guys hearing what I'm saying? Second chance is not gonna work
for me. I am a hell-bound sinner and by nature I will mess it
up over and over and over and over and over again. I need better
than a second chance. I need a new nature. I need better than a second chance.
I need a new nature. Are you with me? But the parable
is one of the teachings that require serious Christians to
sit and learn, listen, work through four and five propositions with
sub points. We are not soundbite Christians.
We are being challenged to learn, are we not? We're not soundbite
Christians. Talk to soundbite Christians
all the time. All they can handle is a verse here and a little
anecdotal story and close out in prayer. They're not ready
to be challenged by the depths of the word of God. and the serious
implications that come out of the teaching thereof. The Lord
Jesus Christ is teaching Peter and all the disciples the nature
of the gospel relative to men and women on this premise that
God values relationship enough to provide a way of forgiveness
by which we can be restored. But as I said earlier, here it
is. Forgiveness is just not God willy-nilly letting your stuff
go. Forgiveness is also God not automatically
forgiving you your sins. Forgiveness also is not God unilaterally
forgiving you. Forgiveness is a bilateral relationship
by which God does his part and the sinner does his part. Are
you guys hearing me? In order for the forgiveness
factor to work itself out, certain conditions must be met. That's
what this parable is teaching. Can I ask you a question just
in case you are struggling? Will anyone be saved who does
not believe the gospel? Will anyone be saved who does
not believe the gospel? Is the gospel therefore conditional
in its proposition? Are you guys hearing me? There
is forgiveness with God. But listen to me now, he doesn't
automatically pour it on a person because he values relationship.
Are you hearing me? He values the relationship between
you and him. You've got to be earnest with
God. You've got to be real with God. You've got to be authentic
with God. You don't go to God and just get a ticket of forgiveness
and just keep rolling. That's what the parable is about
to get at right now. So we see an outrageous act on
the part of the slave. an outrageous response on the
part of the king. But this outrageous response
requires you to hold on because there should be an appropriate
response on the part of the servant towards what the king did. But
that's not what we see here. So here's the next lesson for
us to learn. Even though the king It's exercising a prerogative
of pardoning this man because the king values relationship
because the king knows he can't pay. We move then into the exposure
of this individual on point number three. The owner was moved to
do more than give a second chance. Why? Subpoint A, because of three
of the seven observations of what we learned concerning forgiveness
last week. Remember when we looked at the seven observations of
forgiveness last week? I said that they were first,
forgiveness is the only way back to God. Is that true? Then I
said, secondly, forgiveness exposes our horrible predicament. Is
that true? If God doesn't forgive us, our sins are sending us to
hell. Now the last one which applies
here is point number seven in the seven proposals. It teaches
us how valuable relationships are to God. Are relationships
valuable to God? A master was hanging on the cross
in Luke's gospel, chapter 23, verse 34. And you know what he
said to his father in one of the seven last sayings? Father,
forgive them for they know not what they do. What was the son
doing? Affirming the value of the relationship
between God and the sinner, right? Affirming the relationship the
value of the relationship between God and the sinner. So the three
are very clear. The first one is there's no way
back. The king knew that the king knew he couldn't pay to
come back. The second one is the sin that he had committed.
The crime was outrageous. The debt was too large. The reason
why the king said, I forgive your debt is because the king
values relationship. Watch this. The king said. There
are lots of people who are going to be observing this transaction
between me and him. And the best way I can serve
my kingdom and my community is to give this man the freedom
and liberty to walk away from that particular horrendous act
so that the people in the kingdom know the nature of the kingdom
and know the nature of the king of the kingdom. Are you ready?
Watch this. We have a God who is ready to forgive. We have
a God who is ready to forgive. So there'll be others in the
kingdom who will see this action between this man who lost a billion
dollars and they'll say, hmm, I only lost 100,000. I mean,
let me get to the king and ask him for mercy. Let me get to
the king and beg for mercy because forgiveness is based on mercy.
Is that true? So the parable is designed to
shape for us an understanding of the forgiving nature of God
and the responsibility of the people in the kingdom to act
according to forgiveness. So the two sub points is because
of the seven observations. What I want you to mark here
is that when God offers forgiveness of sins to people, God is not
first ignorant, is he? God is also not what? Gullible. And God is also not what? I just
need to press that home because where you and I don't understand
the accountability factor between us and God, we will assume that
God is ignorant, that God is gullible, and that God himself
is permissive. And that is not biblical forgiveness. Some of us are walking around
assuming that God forgives us. And consequently, we are not
relating to God properly. We are demanding that He forgives
us. We are presuming that He forgives
us. But if we know that forgiveness is rooted in mercy, we can never
demand God to forgive us. We can never presume that God
should forgive us since mercy is never something God is obligated
to do. This is what the parable is about
to teach. Are y'all with me still? This is what the parable is about
to teach. So then the sub point B is he forgives in order to
do what? In order to do what? Reconcile
and restore. So now watch this. The objective
of forgiveness is that the relationship could be restored. Is that what's
happening here? and reconcile and for that relationship
to be restored back to a normal process. When you and I sin against
God and we go to him legitimately and we confess our sins and we
acknowledge our transgression like Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 and
God forgives us of our sins and our transgressions, are we not
reconciled? in our conscience and in our mind? And do we now
get to not walk in the forgiveness of sins in a state of restoration
and joy and fullness? Isn't that what David was asking
for? Restore unto me the joy of your salvation? Why would
he ask that if forgiveness in its dynamics was not conditional? Why would he ask that if forgiveness
was not in its dynamics conditional? Why wouldn't he just presume
that God must forgive him and he can go on acting like he wants
to? Because forgiveness has as its fundamental objective the
value of the relationship, the reconciliation of offended parties,
and the restoration of the character of that relationship when once
the offense is removed. Y'all are hearing me right? So
this takes me back to Psalm 130 verse 4 and 5. where the psalmist sinking deep
in sin, far from the peaceful shore, sees the shaft of light
piercing within, and he says, there is forgiveness with you,
God, that you might be feared. And then he said, my soul shall
wait on the Lord. You with me right now? Listen
to me. Listen to me. The way God works
is to make sure you understand the value of the enormous price
that was paid to forgive your sins. The way God works is to
make sure you understand that he mandates that you have a proper
relationship with him so that even though he has forgiven our
sins objectively in Christ, the conscious does not get to enjoy
the peace and liberty until we have come to fully understand
fully understand the grievous nature in which we've sinned.
It's the only God the Holy Ghost knows when we have come to that
point of saying, you know what, I'm done with that. So David
said, restore unto me the joy. The psalmist in Psalm 130 verse
five said, I will wait, I will watch for the morning. And the
morning here, metaphorically, is that time when the soul is
brought back into right relationship with God conscientiously, so
that he knows, she knows, God has actually now lifted that
burden off my shoulders. I'm good to go. Only true believers
know what I'm talking about. If you don't know what I'm talking
about, you're window shopping. Because God has already forgiven
true believers in Christ, but the experience of forgiveness
when we transgressed against Him, is relative to how much
God knows I have actually understood the depth of my sin. God lets
you go from certain things, you'll go right back at it. Can I get
a witness? All right, point number four,
point number four, point number four. Let's move quickly through
this. Point number four, I want to press this home. As we are
working through this, the owner was moved to do more than forgive,
but we find now in our fourth point here, Let me find this
in my outline. Our fourth point here, the insane
response, the insane response of what I call an almost forgiven
sinner. The insane response of what I
call an almost forgiven sinner. You with me? Can you believe
what he does? Can you believe what he does?
Can you believe he can walk away from a debt of a billion dollars,
a price that would send him to jail, his wife to jail, and his
children to jail forever, and then go out and dog his fellow
servants? Can you believe that? Can you
believe it? It's irrational, isn't it? But the parable is
given by Christ to help Peter understand that God is not gullible,
that God is not ignorant, and God is not permissive. The insane response of an almost
forgiven sinner. Pastor, how can you be an almost
forgiven sinner? By playing church. By being a phony Christian. By
being near the kingdom, but not in the kingdom. By having the word in your head
intellectually, but in not dominating your life. By hearing the gospel of the
forgiveness of sins and it not being the foundation upon which
you live day for day daily Rejoicing in the goodness of god in the
mercy of god in your life and it not having a transformer transformative
effect in your life How can you be an almost christ almost uh,
forgiving sinner ask king agrippa? Remember when paul preached to
king agrippa and acts and king agrippa said to paul paul you
have almost Persuaded me to be a christian Got it? A whole lot of folks in the church
almost persuaded of the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins. How
many of you with me right now? I just need to know. I mean,
half of you are. OK, the other half is asleep. It's a very important
doctrine. Our master gave it. He gave it
for his disciples to get it. If you're his disciple, you've
got to get this. The same response of an almost forgiven sinner.
Three set points. The owner was to be what? Was he? Stay with me. When he brought that boy in and
he exposed that boy to the fact that he saw every one of his
sins, we learned that this morning, did we not? God sees all our
sin. All our sin. All our sin. when he exposed that boy to all
his sin, and he told that boy, I have forgiven you. Wasn't that boy to simply fall
on his face and admire God for his forgiveness? Admire God. Admire God. That is one of the
meanings of Psalm 130 verse 4. There is forgiveness with you
that you might be held in awe. Held in awe. Held in awe. God is held in awe by those who
are sitting there saying, how could it be that a holy, just,
righteous God would forgive my sins? I hold him in awe. I hold him in absolute awe. I'm
staggered by this God. I'm held in absolute, stunning,
staggering awe of this God. How glorious He must be! How
glorious He is to me! Me! Me! The sinner! I hold him in absolute awe. Who can forgive sins but God? Are you with me? Now, this is
the nature of the gospel. The reason why we preach a Christ-centered,
cross-centered theology is to put sinners in the presence of
the glory of a God who assumed our nature and died on the cross.
to show us his glory from the cross, that we might awe in God,
that we might awe in God. And don't go from the cross until
it's changed you. The owner was to be admired,
and then he was to be what? He was to be what? Modeled. Modeled. Modeled. Anybody tracking with me right
now? Modeled. See, the master forgives that
we might be like him. He forgives that we might be
like him. Isn't that what the owner said? I forgave you. How is it that
you're not forgiving? I forgave you. How is it that
you're not forgiving? Implications. The forgiveness
of sins is powerful. The forgiveness of sins is transformative. The forgiveness of sins changes
a man's nature and brings him into the likeness of God through
Jesus Christ. That's our point for the mandate
of forgiveness. If you don't forgive others of
your sins, of their sins, you probably haven't been forgiven.
Are you guys hearing what I'm saying? It's transformative. It demands that you and I walk
in the likeness of Christ. The final one. The owner was
to be not only admired and modeled, but to be what? Got it. Obeyed. Subpoint B, the man's
repentance and promise was a what? You guys got that? His repentance
and promise was a what? Do you know why? Because he went
right out and dogged his fellow man. How could you say you're
going to pay it back, do everything necessary to make it right, and
then go out? Look at what he did. Would you follow me on this?
This is what I call the outrageous response or reaction. Notice
what it says. Verse 28. Are you there? But
the same servant... See, the author wants you to
know we're still dealing with this dude. The hypocrite that came
to church, cried and whined about needing to be forgiven of his
sin, and walked right out and hung one of the other Christians.
Dragged him behind his truck. Skinned him alive. Are you hearing me? Are you guys
hearing me? See, Christianity historically
is guilty of this. Is it guilty? Christianity is
guilty of receiving forgiveness of sin from God, going right
out and dogging people who are made in God's image like them
and killing them. He took the man and choked him.
Did he choke him? Look at this. This is wild. But the same servant went out
and found, and found, and found, and found, and found. You know
what that means? Hunted him down. Hunted him down. Found, found
one of his fellow servants. Hunted him down. I guess this
is the way he was going to pay the king back. Which owed him
a hundred pence. This is what we meant by the
outrageous nature of the parable. He owed a billion. Guess how
much this man owed him? One day's wages. See how important
grammar is? This is what our pastors is pressing
on. Watch this. A brother or sister may sin against
you. One day's wages. Your sin against God. Can I keep talking? Can I keep
teaching? Your sin against God is massive. Do you see the oxymoronic contrast
between God and this servant? See how crazy he is? This is
why I call him an almost Christian, because we're getting ready to
find out he's not saved at all. He's not saved at all. And he
lay hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me
that thou owest. Can I tell you who this guy is
right now? The Antichrist. He's the opposite of God. He's
the opposite of God. Did God take this man by the
throat? No. Did God demand that this man pay him? No. This man
saying, you gonna pay me. Verse 29. And his fellow servant fell down
on his face and besought him saying, have patience with me,
I'll pay thee off. See the nature of the parable, how that the
parable sets up these models of parallelisms. Here's the parallel
between now, this one who owes him, showing how he acted when
he was before God or the king. And he then totally forgot that
just a few days ago, he was just like this man. Verse 30, and
he would not. but when and cast him into prison
until he should do what now ladies and gentlemen this is where our
lord reinforces what we call the doctrine of forgiveness as
a mandate the doctrine of forgiveness as a mandate look keep that verse
up there share something with you when you and i are not operating
on the premise of the rules of forgiveness the only other option
is to throw people in prison you see it the only other option
is to throw them in prison If you can't let them go, you're
going to hold them there. You're going to put them in a holding
cell until the day you decide to judge them. You got that?
When somebody offends you, I'm not going to let them go. I'm
going to put them in jail. Then I'll come at my own time
and deal with them. I want them to feel the weight
and the burden of the sin that they have committed against me.
Are you guys following me? The parable was outrageous. in
the contradiction and contrast between the king and the servant,
isn't it? Outrageous. And I want to make
sure you get it, because I know we have the uncanning ability
as religious people to leave the service and not make application
in our lives. We have the uncanning ability
to say, that was a good message, preacher, and not applicate it
in our lives. Am I telling the truth? Right.
Please understand how important this is, because we're getting
ready to deal with, now, in a minute, a just outcome. just outcome
so in point number four the insane response of an almost forgiven
sinner is that the owner was to be admired model and obeyed
the man's repentance and promise was a lie Proverbs chapter 28
13 years ago I learned this by memory because many things will
come up in your life to teach you the nature of the kingdom
authentically here's what Proverbs 28 13 says whosoever covereth
his sin shall not what but whosoever confesseth and what shall have
what did the man confess his sin yes did he forsake them no
he didn't forsake him how do we know by the way he treated
his neighbor and notice that the last verse
says only the person that confesses and forsakes will have mercy
is the man in our account an object of of the transformational
mercy of God? No. He's an object of mercy offered,
but not mercy experienced. Are y'all with me so far? It's
very important for you to get this. Very important for you
to get this. He that covers his sins shall
not prosper. Have y'all learned that in your own life? But whosoever
confesses and forsakes them shall have what? And the way scripture
works is often the outcome is really the premise. In other
words, the outcome is mercy, but really mercy is the premise
for confession and forsaking. When God's merciful to you, He
will cause you to see your sin. He will cause you to confess
your sin. And He will cause you to forsake your sin because He
was merciful to you. Am I making sense? Very, very,
very important for you to know that. Very important for you
to know that. So then under our fourth point
and our final sub-point, the takeaway principle is actually
employed. Look at verse 30 and 31, verse
31 and 32. So when his fellow servants saw
what was done, they were very what? And came and told their
Lord all that he had what? See, damaging the kingdom. Damaging
the kingdom. What are the fellow servants
doing? Praying. Lord, we got this dude in the church. We got
this woman in the church. that's professing to be a believer,
but her conduct is really creating problems. Lord, we got this brother
in this church, our group of people in the church, and their
conduct is really creating problems. They're praying to the king,
aren't they? They've gone to the king, right? Lord, this is
not right. We can't have people in the church
who say they are objects of mercy, and you're going around being
like lawyers and legalists, accusing people and holding people to
their sins. You see it. You see it, right?
You see it. So as a true believer who knows
something about mercy, wouldn't you be praying about an issue
like that? Wouldn't you go to the Father about that? Lord,
fix that. That ain't right. Fix that. And so our text goes on to say,
so see accountability. If I love you and I know you're
not acting right, stay with me. Stay with me. If I love you and
I know you're not acting right, I'm obligated according to Leviticus
chapter 19 Verse 16. Pull it up. Show you. Show you. In our Christian
culture, we think we're Christian if we just turn our back on it. You shall not go up and down
as a tailbearer among your people. Y'all know what that's about. Y'all don't know what that's
about. Neither shall you stand against the blood of your neighbor.
I am the Lord. Verse 17. Thou shalt not hate
your brother. See it? Watch this now. Watch
it. Watch what he says. In your heart, you shall any
wise rebuke him. Do you see it? Do you see it?
Do you see it? And not suffer sin upon him.
Whoa! Pastor, do you mean that we are
accountable to one another? That's the way I open the message. Do you see it? Watch this. I
can't just, if I care about the kingdom, care about God, care
about the character and nature of the kingdom, care about you,
want you doing things that are damaging the kingdom and say
I love you when I turn my back and just let you keep doing it. Are you with me, Saints? Can
I do it? Can I do it? Do I love you if
I let you wreak that kind of havoc in the church? And we discover
you have a pattern of going around talking bad about people, acting
a certain way. And one of the sisters don't
check you. Or one of the brothers don't check you. Do we love each
other? No! No. This is the text. where our master gave us Matthew
18, 15. When your brother sins against
you, you go to him alone and not with another. Y'all with
me for a minute? I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna
let you go. But I'm gonna make sure you guys understand this
second installment of forgiveness. The master didn't say, when your
brother sins against you, Go tell a whole bunch of other folk
in the church what he did. That's what people do when our
character is flawed. Go tell them how they said this
and said that and did this. And you know what you do when
you do that? You set your brother or sister up who is listening
to your gossip to sin. You know why? Because you are
presuming that they are going to agree with you because you
want somebody's ear. And nine times out of 10, they're gonna
agree with you. Can I tell you why? Moral ambivalence. When we don't understand that
we are all obligated to walk right before God, I might be
inclined to go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, get her girl, get her man,
yeah. You have just caused me to stumble. When you marshal two or three
people together, to agree with you over something that wasn't
meant to be public. Can I talk for a little bit longer?
Because this is the way the old school used to teach. We don't
read our Bibles anymore. The only teaching you're going
to get is on Sunday. You don't read your Bible. But our Lord
is coming from this text saying when your brother sins against
you, you have enough accountable love towards him to go to him
to talk to him alone. And if he does not hear you,
then you go get somebody else. Listen to me. That's rational,
reasonable, objective, and not crazy. They suborned two or three
witnesses to accuse my master and kill him. You can always
find somebody to agree with you in the church who are unprincipled
in the rules of objectivity, discerning the facts. You can
always create a witch hunt with your little group of people and
make the other person bad. Where we don't have the character
and fortitude to say, now sister, did you go to her? Because right
now you're actually transgressing the rule because I shouldn't
even know about it because you're taming my conscience by something
you're saying about somebody else. And you're causing me to
struggle. Because I love you, but I'm just
about to rebuke you for not going to her. Can I get a witness? Yep. Moreover, if your brother trespass
against you, you go tell him his fault alone between you and
him. You know the role that you're playing there when you actually
do that? You're walking in love because you value the relationship.
and you are being a tool of the Holy Ghost if, in fact, that
was an authentic, legitimate, concrete transgression. That
phrase there, tell him his fault, is the term or the verb that
we use in John's Gospel, chapter 16, verse 8, when it says, and
when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will convince the
world of sin. How does the Holy Spirit work?
Frequently, through your brother or sister, if they factually
care about you enough to tell you when you're wrong. And do
you notice what the text just said? If they hear you, you have
won them. Does God value the relationship?
You have won them. That term won there is the word,
or gain won is the word that's used largely by the Apostle Paul
about winning lost sinners to Christ. It's amazing. You and I have to work every
day according to the ethic of the gospel to win one another.
Because we can lose one another by bad morals and bad ethics.
We can be divided and destroyed and damage the character and
nature of the kingdom by not walking in the principles of
forgiveness. Are y'all with me? Are you with me? This is so very
important for us to get. Because our churches are easily
capable of defaulting to religion even when we are orthodox. Even
when we have the gospel. We will quickly play church. Point number five. Let me finish
with point number four. And then I'm quickly going to
go through five because I think five is so obvious to me, but
it won't be obvious to you. Point number four says in verse
32, then the Lord called, then the Lord, after that he had called
this man, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave you
every bit of your debt because you desired me of it. Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on your fellow servant? Here
are the parallelisms. Even as I had pity on you. See the parallels? God has mercy
on you, you show mercy. It's what I meant by forgiveness
is the consequence of pity. Mercy is not a mandate. Verse
34. And his Lord was what? Angry. You know what we call this? Back
to square one. We're back to square one. Was
he angry at the first? We're back to square one. Back
to square one. You know what has just occurred?
And this is just the irony of the parable. Every aspect of
the presumed forgiveness was removed. We have just reversed
the whole thing by this man's lack of understanding the nature
of forgiveness. He appeared to be forgiven. He
appeared to be free. He appeared to be without debt. He appeared to be let go. But
in fact, he was not forgiven. In fact, he was not free of his
debt. In fact, he was not let go. And everything that the king
stated that he was going to do the first time, he's actually
doing it now. Do you guys see that? In other
words, this man never actually experienced the forgiveness of
sins. He's on his way to hell. Do you see it? There are a whole
lot of almost forgiven sinners.